Welsh Grammar List

Iawn after an adjective means very: da iawn (very good), mawr iawn (very big), Mae hi'n oer iawn (It's very cold).

Most adjectives follow the noun they describe: car coch (a red car), tŷ mawr (a big house), bwyd da (good food). Only a few, such as hen (old) and hoff (favourite), come before it.

Hoffi (like) is a verb-noun used with bod: Dw i'n hoffi coffi, Dw i ddim yn hoffi te, Wyt ti'n hoffi nofio? Northern speech also uses licio and Southern speech lico.

Give your name with Siân dw i (I'm Siân) or Fy enw i ydy Siân (My name is Siân; Fy enw i yw Siân in the South and in writing). Ask Beth ydy dy enw di? or Beth ydy'ch enw chi?

Welsh changes the first consonant of a word after certain words and in certain positions, so cath (cat) can appear as gath, nghath or chath. Dictionaries list the unchanged form.

In the South, possession is often Mae + noun + gyda + person, with no mutation of the noun: Mae car gyda fi (I have a car), Mae ci gyda nhw (They have a dog). Speech often shortens gyda to 'da: Mae plant 'da ni.

In the North, possession is often Mae gen i + a soft-mutated noun: Mae gen i gar (I have a car), Mae gynno fo gath (He has a cat). The spoken forms are gen i, gen ti, gynno fo, gynni hi, gynnon ni, gynnoch chi and gynnyn nhw.

Welsh uses hi (she) for it when talking about the weather: Mae hi'n oer, Mae hi'n wyntog, Mae hi'n bwrw glaw. Describing words soften after 'n, but braf does not change. Ask Sut mae'r tywydd?

Every Welsh noun is masculine or feminine. Gender decides whether "it" is e/o or hi, and feminine singular nouns change after y and change the adjective after them: y gath fach.

Welsh has no word for a or an. A bare noun already means one unnamed thing: cath means a cat, so Mae cath yn yr ardd means There is a cat in the garden.

Spoken Welsh has Northern and Southern forms, such as rŵan and nawr (now), efo and gyda (with), and isio and isie (want, written eisiau). Both are standard, and speakers from both regions understand each other.

A noun directly after a number stays singular: tri llyfr (three books), pum car (five cars), deg munud (ten minutes). The number already shows that there is more than one.

Questions about whether something exists use Oes (Oes caffi yma? Oes / Nac oes), and negatives use Does dim (Does dim caffi yma). With a definite noun use Ydy and Dydy instead: Ydy'r caffi ar agor?

Before a noun or adjective describing the subject, yn ('n after a vowel) causes soft mutation, except for words starting with ll and rh: Mae hi'n feddyg, Mae'r bwyd yn dda, Mae e'n dal, Mae'n llawn.

Present negatives add ddim after the subject: Dw i ddim yn, Dwyt ti ddim yn, Dydy e ddim yn (Dyw e ddim in the South, Dydi o ddim in the North), Dyn ni ddim yn, Dych chi ddim yn, Dyn nhw ddim yn. The North also says Dan ni ddim and Dach chi ddim.

Present yes-no questions use Ydw i? Wyt ti? Ydy e? (Ydi o? in the North), Ydy hi?, Ydyn ni?, Dych chi? (Dach chi? in the North) and Ydyn nhw?, as in Wyt ti'n hoffi coffi?

The everyday present of bod (to be) is dw i, rwyt ti (ti in the North), mae e or mae o, mae hi, dyn ni (dan ni in the North), dych chi (dach chi in the North) and maen nhw.

Soft mutation changes p t c to b d g, b and m to f, d to dd, ll to l and rh to r, and drops g: pen → ben, tad → dad, cath → gath, bara → fara, mam → fam, desg → ddesg, llyfr → lyfr, gardd → ardd.

Welsh words are normally stressed on the second-last syllable, as in BA-ra, CYM-ru and pri-FYS-gol. A few words, such as Cymraeg, prynhawn, ymlaen and Caerdydd, are stressed on the last syllable.

Greet someone with Sut mae? Sut wyt ti? or Sut dych chi? (Sut dach chi? in the North); Shwmae is especially Southern. Reply Da iawn, diolch or Iawn, diolch, and ask back A chi? (And you?).

The verb-noun is the dictionary form of a verb, such as mynd (go), bwyta (eat) and dysgu (learn). It does not change for person or tense, and it is used after yn, wedi and many other words.

The Welsh alphabet has 29 letters. Eight of them, such as ll and dd, are written with two characters but count as one letter.

A neutral Welsh statement starts with the verb, then the subject, then the rest: Mae Siân yn darllen (Siân is reading), Gwelodd Tom y ffilm (Tom saw the film).

Welsh has no single word for yes or no. Answer a present question with bod by echoing its verb: Wyt ti'n dod? Ydw / Nac ydw; Ydy hi'n oer? Ydy / Nac ydy; Dych chi'n siarad Cymraeg? Ydw.

And is a before a consonant and ac before a vowel and before words such as mae, roedd, mewn, fel and felly: bara a menyn, afal ac oren, ac mae. A causes aspirate mutation of c p t: te a choffi, halen a phupur.

Beth (what), pwy (who), ble (where; lle in the North), pryd (when), pam (why) and sut (how) begin questions: Ble mae'r banc? Pam wyt ti'n dysgu Cymraeg?

Most present-tense sentences combine bod, the linking word yn ('n after a vowel) and a verb-noun: Dw i'n dysgu Cymraeg, Mae hi'n gweithio. The verb-noun does not mutate after this yn.

The days are dydd Llun, dydd Mawrth, dydd Mercher, dydd Iau, dydd Gwener, dydd Sadwrn and dydd Sul. Nos (night) is feminine, so the day name after it takes soft mutation: nos Lun, nos Fawrth, nos Fercher, nos Wener.

Dyma (here is), dyna (there is) and dacw (there is, over there) point things out and cause soft mutation: Dyma fara ffres, Dyna gi mawr, Dacw'r castell.

Eisiau (isio in the North, isie in the South) follows bod without yn: Dw i eisiau paned, Dw i ddim eisiau mynd; the thing wanted does not mutate. The South also says Dw i'n moyn, with yn.

In Welsh, single f sounds like English v, and ff sounds like English f. Dd is the soft th in "this", and th is the hard th in "thin".

With is gyda in the South and in standard writing and efo in the North: Dw i'n mynd gyda Siân, Dw i'n mynd efo Siân. Gyda is often shortened to 'da in speech, and efo causes no mutation: efo coffi.

The personal pronouns are i or fi (I, me), ti (you), e or fe in the South and o or fo in the North (he, him), hi (she, her), ni (we, us), chi (you) and nhw (they, them). E and o also mean it for a masculine noun, and hi means it for a feminine noun.

Ll is an l made by blowing air past the sides of the tongue, ch is the throaty sound at the end of Scottish "loch", and rh is an r said with a puff of breath.

Mae with an indefinite noun means there is or there are: Mae caffi yn y pentref (There's a café in the village), Mae llawer o bobl yma (There are lots of people here).

With a noun subject the verb stays mae even when the noun is plural: Mae'r plant yn chwarae, not maen. In every tense a noun subject takes the singular verb form (Roedd y plant, Aeth y plant); plural forms go only with nhw.

I (to) and o (from) cause soft mutation of places: Dw i'n mynd i Gaerdydd, Dw i'n dod o Fangor. With the article they become i'r and o'r: i'r dref. Ask O ble dych chi'n dod?

Use ti with one friend, relative, child or pet, and chi with more than one person or politely with one person. The verb and possessive forms change to match: Wyt ti? Dych chi?

In the North, u and clear y are usually said with a vowel made further back in the mouth than i. Most Southern speakers say them just like i. Both are standard.

The numbers one to ten are un, dau, tri, pedwar, pump, chwech, saith, wyth, naw, deg. Before a noun, pump becomes pum and chwech becomes chwe: pum munud, chwe diwrnod.

In Welsh, w and y are usually vowels. W sounds like the oo in "book" or "moon", and y sounds one way in a word's final syllable and another way in the syllables before it.

A feminine singular noun takes soft mutation after the article: cath → y gath, merch → y ferch. Nouns beginning with ll or rh do not change here (y llaw, y rhaw), and plurals never do (y cathod).

In speech this and that are usually y + noun + 'ma (yma) and y + noun + 'na (yna): y llyfr 'ma (this book), y ferch 'na (that girl).

The definite article is y before a consonant (y tŷ), yr before a vowel or h (yr afal, yr haul) and 'r after a vowel (i'r dref, mae'r plant). There is no separate plural article.

The circumflex, called the to bach ("little roof"), shows that a vowel is long where the spelling could be read as short. It can also separate words, such as tân (fire) and tan (until).

The simple past adds endings to the stem: prynais i, prynaist ti, prynodd e/hi, prynon ni, prynoch chi, prynon nhw. In speech you will often hear -es i in the South (prynes i) and -is i in the North (prynis i).

A word beginning with a vowel gains h after ei (her), ein (our), eu (their), after the short forms 'i, 'n, 'u, 'w and 'm, and in fixed forms such as ar hugain: ei henw hi, ein harian ni, a'i hanes hi, un ar hugain.

An adjective after a feminine singular noun takes soft mutation: cath fach, merch dda, noson lawen, y Stryd Fawr. After a masculine or plural noun it does not: ci bach, cathod bach.

Aspirate mutation changes just three letters: c → ch, p → ph, t → th, as in cath → ei chath hi, pen → ei phen hi, tad → ei thad hi. All other letters stay the same.

To identify or classify, a noun or name can come first, followed by bod: Athro dw i (I'm a teacher), Meddyg ydy hi (Meddyg yw hi in the South, Meddyg ydi hi in the North), Siân dw i (I'm Siân).

Ces i fy ngeni yn Abertawe means I was born in Swansea; ask Ble cest ti dy eni? or Ble cawsoch chi eich geni? The pattern is the cael passive, taught fully later.

Commands to chi add -wch to the stem: Eisteddwch, Gwrandewch, Edrychwch, Arhoswch. Irregulars include dewch (come), ewch (go), gwnewch (do) and cymerwch (take).

Commands to someone you call ti usually add -a to the stem: Eistedda!, Siarada!, Arhosa!. Common irregulars are dere (South) or tyrd (North) for come, cer (South) or dos (North) for go, and gwna for do.

After an inflected verb and its subject, the direct object takes soft mutation: Prynais i gar, Gwelodd hi gath, Ges i baned, Hoffwn i goffi. There is no mutation after a verb-noun: Dw i'n prynu car.

Questions in the simple past are answered do (yes) or naddo (no) whatever the person: Est ti i'r dref? Do. Welaist ti'r gêm? Naddo.

Speech usually repeats the owner as a pronoun after the possessed noun: fy nhŷ i, dy gi di, ei chath hi, ein tŷ ni, eich car chi, eu plant nhw. The echo is optional but very common.

Ask Faint o'r gloch ydy hi? and answer with Mae hi'n + the time: hanner awr wedi tri, chwarter i bump. Clock times use traditional numbers such as un ar ddeg and ugain munud wedi, and am (at) softens the number: am ddeg o'r gloch.

Short verb forms are built on a stem, usually the verb-noun minus its ending: gweld → gwel-, prynu → pryn-, dysgu → dysg-, codi → cod-. Some stems differ, such as aros → arhos- and gadael → gadaw-.

Future questions take soft mutation (Fyddi di yno? Fydd hi'n braf?) and are answered Bydda / Na fydda or Bydd / Na fydd; negatives add ddim: Fydda i ddim yn gweithio.

Ga i + a soft-mutated noun asks for something (Ga i baned?) and Ga i + a soft-mutated verb-noun asks permission (Ga i fynd?). Answer someone you call ti with Cei / Na chei, and someone you call chi with Cewch / Na chewch.

Mae'n ddrwg gen i (I'm sorry) is used across Wales and especially in the North, and the South also says Mae'n ddrwg 'da fi. The South also says Mae'n flin 'da fi, but in the North blin means cross or angry.

Mae'n well gen i (North) or Mae'n well 'da fi (South) + a soft-mutated noun or verb-noun means "I prefer": Mae'n well gen i de (I prefer tea), Mae'n well 'da fi nofio (I prefer swimming).

Nasal mutation changes six sounds: p t c become mh nh ngh, and b d g become m n ng: pen → fy mhen, tad → fy nhad, cath → fy nghath, bara → fy mara, drws → fy nrws, gardd → fy ngardd. Other letters stay the same.

Modern counting builds numbers from tens: un deg un (11), dau ddeg (20), dau ddeg pump (25), tri deg (30), naw deg naw (99). Dau ddeg shows soft mutation of deg after dau, and pump and chwech shorten before deg: pum deg, chwe deg.

Past questions use Oeddwn i? Oeddet ti? Oedd e? (answered Oeddwn / Nac oeddwn, Oedd / Nac oedd), negatives use Doeddwn i ddim (Do'n i ddim) and Doedd hi ddim, and Doedd dim means there wasn't.

Possession questions use oes: Oes gen ti gar? (North), Oes car gyda ti? (South), answered Oes (yes) or Nac oes (no). Negatives use does: Does gen i ddim car (North), Does dim car gyda fi (South).

Possession is shown by putting the owner after the thing owned, with no word for of: car Siân, drws y tŷ, canol y dref. The first noun never takes the article.

Many plurals add an ending such as -au, -iau, -od, -on, -ion, -i or -oedd: llyfr → llyfrau, cath → cathod, dyn → dynion, ffenestr → ffenestri, mynydd → mynyddoedd. Learn each plural with its noun.

Yn ôl after a length of time means ago: wythnos yn ôl, ddwy flynedd yn ôl, dri diwrnod yn ôl. The time phrase often takes soft mutation because it is used as an adverb.

The prepositions am, ar, at, dan, dros, drwy, gan, heb, i, o and wrth cause soft mutation: am ddau o'r gloch, ar ben y mynydd, dan goeden, dros bont, heb fara, o Gaerdydd. Hyd and tan (until) also soften: tan ddydd Llun.

Arall (other, another) follows the noun and eraill is its plural: ffrind arall, pobl eraill, rhywbeth arall. Y llall means the other one and y lleill the others.

Beth am + a soft-mutated noun or verb-noun makes a suggestion: Beth am goffi? (How about a coffee?), Beth am fynd i'r sinema? (How about going to the cinema?)

Replacing yn with wedi gives a perfect meaning: Dw i wedi bwyta (I have eaten), Mae hi wedi mynd. Wedi causes no mutation and is often shortened to 'di in speech: Dw i 'di gorffen.

The future of bod is bydda i, byddi di, bydd e/hi, byddwn ni, byddwch chi, byddan nhw, used with yn: Bydda i'n gweithio yfory, Bydd hi'n braf. Do not confuse byddwn ni (we will) with byddwn i (I would).

Two is dau with masculine nouns and dwy with feminine nouns, and both cause soft mutation: dau gi, dau fachgen, dwy gath, dwy ferch. Un (one) also softens a feminine noun, except ll and rh: un gath, but un llaw.

Dy means your when you speak to someone you call ti. It causes soft mutation and is echoed by di after the noun: dy gar di (your car), dy fam di, dy dad di.

Efallai (maybe) usually starts the sentence; the South often says falle and the North ella: Efallai bydd hi'n braf, Falle bod e'n sâl, Ella bydd hi'n bwrw glaw.

Ei meaning her changes c p t to ch ph th, adds h before a vowel, and is echoed by hi: ei chath hi, ei thad hi, ei phen hi, ei henw hi. Other consonants do not change: ei mam hi.

Ei meaning his, or its for a masculine noun, causes soft mutation and is echoed by e (South) or o (North): ei gar e, ei fam o, ei dad e.

Ein (our), eich (your, for chi) and eu (their) cause no consonant mutation, but ein and eu add h before a vowel: ein tŷ ni, eich car chi, eu plant nhw, ein henwau ni, eu hathro nhw.

Four common verbs have irregular pasts: es i, aeth hi, aethon ni (went); des i (dois i in the North), daeth e, daethon ni (came); ces i, cafodd e, cawson ni (got, had); gwnes i, gwnaeth hi, gwnaethon ni (did, made). Speech often softens them: ges i, wnes i, ddaeth e.

Faint o + a soft-mutated plural or mass noun asks how many or how much (Faint o blant? Faint o fara?), and sawl takes a singular noun (Sawl plentyn?). Faint ydy e? asks the price.

Fy (my) causes nasal mutation and is usually echoed by i after the noun: fy nghar i (my car), fy mhen i, fy nhad i, fy mrawd i. In speech fy is often reduced to 'y or dropped, leaving just the mutation: 'y nghar i.

Gallu is used everywhere and medru mainly in the North to say what someone can do, with bod + yn: Dw i'n gallu nofio, Dw i'n medru siarad Cymraeg, Wyt ti'n gallu dod?

Gwybod means know a fact and adnabod (nabod in speech) means know a person or place: Dw i'n gwybod ble mae e (I know where he is), Dw i'n nabod Siân (I know Siân). The short form Wn i ddim means I don't know.

Hefyd means also or too in positive sentences, while chwaith means either in negatives: Dw i'n hoffi te hefyd; Dw i ddim yn hoffi coffi chwaith.

Hoffwn i (I would like) is a polite form of hoffi, followed by soft mutation: Hoffwn i goffi, Hoffwn i fynd. Ask Hoffech chi...? or Hoffet ti...? and answer Hoffwn (Yes, I would) or Na hoffwn (No, I wouldn't).

After the article + noun, hwn (masculine) and hon (feminine) mean this, and hwnnw and honno mean that: y llyfr hwn, y ferch hon, y diwrnod hwnnw. Hyn and hynny are used for plurals and ideas: y plant hyn, Mae hynny'n wir.

I (to, for) has personal forms: i fi (i mi in the North and in writing), i ti, iddo fe (iddo fo in the North), iddi hi, i ni, i chi, iddyn nhw: Prynais i anrheg iddi hi (I bought a present for her).

Llawer o (a lot of), digon o (enough), gormod o (too much, too many), tipyn o (a bit of) and ychydig o (a little, a few) take soft mutation: llawer o bobl, digon o fwyd, gormod o geir.

Speech everywhere, and especially in the North, adds 'na (short for yna, there) after bod to mean there is: Mae 'na gaffi yn y pentref. The noun after 'na takes soft mutation. It works in every tense: Oes 'na rywun yma? Roedd 'na ddyn wrth y drws.

Mae angen + a noun or verb-noun says that something is needed: Mae angen bara (We need bread). Mae angen i + person + a soft-mutated verb-noun says who needs to act: Mae angen i ni brynu llaeth. Everyday speech also says Dw i angen help.

(Mae) rhaid i + person + a soft-mutated verb-noun means must or have to: Mae rhaid i fi fynd (i mi in the North), Rhaid i ni weithio. Does dim rhaid i ti ddod means you don't have to come.

Yn (in) is used only before a definite noun or a name: yn y tŷ, yng Nghaerdydd. Before an indefinite noun (in a...) use mewn, which causes no mutation: mewn tŷ, mewn caffi, mewn car.

Bod + yn mynd i + a soft-mutated verb-noun expresses a plan: Dw i'n mynd i brynu car, Mae hi'n mynd i ddysgu Cymraeg.

Neu (or) causes soft mutation of a following noun, adjective or verb-noun: te neu goffi, dydd Sadwrn neu ddydd Sul, mawr neu fach, aros neu fynd.

Age uses oed (age, years old). Ask Faint ydy dy oed di? or Faint ydy'ch oed chi? and answer Dw i'n ddeg oed (I'm ten) or Mae hi'n ugain oed (She's twenty).

Pa (which, what) comes before a noun and causes soft mutation: Pa lyfr? Pa ddiwrnod? Pa fath o gerddoriaeth? Pa mor + adjective asks how: Pa mor bell ydy e?

Negative commands use paid (to ti) or peidiwch (to chi) + â + verb-noun, with aspirate mutation after â: Paid â phoeni (Don't worry), Peidiwch â chyffwrdd (Don't touch). Â becomes ag before a vowel, and speech often drops it: Paid poeni.

Pawb means everyone and popeth everything; pob (every) comes before a singular noun (pob dydd), and i gyd (all) follows a noun or pronoun: y plant i gyd (all the children), ni i gyd (all of us).

Rhy (too) comes before an adjective and causes soft mutation: rhy fach, rhy dda, Mae'r te'n rhy boeth.

The imperfect of bod describes past states and ongoing actions: roeddwn i (ro'n i), roeddet ti (ro't ti), roedd e/hi, roedden ni (ro'n ni), roeddech chi (ro'ch chi), roedden nhw: Roedd hi'n oer, Ro'n i'n byw ym Mangor.

Three and four have feminine forms: tri dyn but tair merch, pedwar ci but pedair cath. Tri and chwe cause aspirate mutation of c, p and t (tri chi, chwe phunt), mainly in careful speech and writing, while tair and pedair cause no mutation (tair cath).

A very common spoken past is a past form of gwneud + a soft-mutated verb-noun: Wnes i weld y ffilm, Wnaeth hi brynu car, Wnaethon ni gerdded adref. The negative is Wnes i ddim + an unmutated verb-noun: Wnes i ddim gweld.

In identifying sentences, questions and fronted sentences, ydy is often yw in the South and in formal writing and ydi in the North: Beth ydy hwn? Beth yw hwn? Beth ydi hwn? The answer yes is always Ydy (Ydi in the North), never yw.

Yma and fan hyn (South) or fan'ma (North) mean here; yna and fan'na mean there, in view; yno means there for a place not in view or already mentioned: Dw i'n byw yno (I live there).

Yn meaning in causes nasal mutation and changes its own ending to match: yng Nghymru, yng Nghaerdydd, ym Mangor, ym Mhwllheli. Other sounds do not change (yn Llundain), and before the article it is simply yn y: yn y tŷ.

An adjective becomes an adverb with yn ('n after a vowel) and soft mutation, except for ll and rh: siarad yn dda, gyrru'n gyflym, cerdded yn araf, canu'n llon.

Many verbs have a short future built on the stem: gwela i, gweli di, gwelith o (North) or gweliff e (South), gwelwn ni, gwelwch chi, gwelan nhw: Bryna i'r bara (I'll buy the bread), Gwela i'r ffilm yfory (I'll see the film tomorrow).

Short adjectives add -ach to compare: tal talach, cyflym cyflymach. Than is na (nag before a vowel), which causes aspirate mutation: Mae hi'n dalach na fi. Final b, d and g harden to p, t and c: gwlyb gwlypach, drud drutach.

Short adjectives add -af (often said and written -a) for the superlative: cyflym cyflymaf, tal talaf. Longer ones use mwyaf (mwya): y mwyaf diddorol. The irregular ones are gorau (best), gwaethaf (worst), mwyaf (biggest) and lleiaf (smallest): y car cyflymaf, Hi ydy'r orau.

Awn ni! means let's go, and gadewch i ni (gad i ni when you speak to one person you call ti) + a soft-mutated verb-noun means let's: Gadewch i ni fwyta, Gad i ni weld.

Dates use an ordinal + o + a soft-mutated month: y cyntaf o Fawrth (1 March), yr ail o Fai (2 May), y pumed ar hugain o Ragfyr (25 December). For on a date, add ar: ar y degfed o Fehefin.

A pronoun object of a verb-noun is a possessive before it, with the usual mutation: Dw i'n dy garu di, Mae hi'n ei weld e, Dw i'n eu nabod nhw. Speech often keeps only the pronoun after it: Dw i'n gweld e (South), Dw i'n gweld o (North).

A yes-no answer echoes the question's verb in the answering person and tense, with na (nac before a vowel) for no: Wnei di helpu? Gwnaf / Na wnaf; Gawn ni fynd? Cewch / Na chewch; Oedd hi yno? Oedd / Nac oedd.

Conditional questions and negatives take soft mutation: Faset ti'n hoffi dod? Fyddech chi'n gallu helpu? Faswn i ddim yn mynd, Fyddwn i ddim yn gwybod. The answers are Baswn / Na faswn and Byddwn / Na fyddwn.

A question that begins with a noun, pronoun or phrase rather than a verb, often after ai, is answered ie or nage (ia or naci in the North): Ai Siân sy'n canu? Ie. Coffi wyt ti eisiau? Nage, te.

Mixed mutation gives aspirate forms for c, p and t and soft forms for other consonants. It follows negative ni and na and appears in careful negative verbs: Chlywais i ddim, Thalodd e ddim, Ddaeth neb.

A second noun can describe the first, and it softens after a feminine singular noun: siop lyfrau (bookshop), gwers Gymraeg (Welsh lesson), tocyn trên (train ticket).

With decimal numbers above ten, speakers usually use o + a soft-mutated plural noun: dau ddeg o bobl (20 people), pum deg o blant (50 children), cant o geir (100 cars). Small numbers still take a singular noun: tri llyfr.

Some plurals change the vowels inside the word, like English man and men: car ceir, bachgen bechgyn, dafad defaid, tŷ tai, ci cŵn, carreg cerrig. Some change a vowel and add an ending too: gardd gerddi, mab meibion.

Many prepositions change form before a pronoun: arna i, amdano fe, iddi hi, ohonyn nhw. Gyda, efo and â keep their basic form: gyda fi, efo chi.

When the question word is the subject, use sy instead of mae: Pwy sy'n dod? (Who's coming?), Beth sy'n bod? (What's the matter?), Faint sy yma? (How many are here?).

Questions with inflected verbs take soft mutation (Welaist ti'r ffilm? Brynodd hi fara?); negatives add ddim and in careful speech take mixed mutation (Phrynais i ddim, Welais i ddim), though soft mutation is common in speech.

Time and frequency phrases used as adverbs take soft mutation: Es i i'r dref ddydd Sadwrn (on Saturday), fore Llun (on Monday morning), bob dydd (every day), weithiau (sometimes), ddwywaith yr wythnos (twice a week).

Yn before a verb-noun links bod to an action with no mutation (Dw i'n mynd); yn before a descriptive noun or adjective causes soft mutation (Mae hi'n feddyg); yn meaning in causes nasal mutation (yng Nghaerdydd).

Many verbs take a particular preposition: aros am (wait for), chwilio am (look for), edrych ar (look at), gwrando ar (listen to), siarad â (talk to), dweud wrth (tell), gofyn i (ask). Learn each verb with its preposition.

The short future of gwneud + a soft-mutated verb-noun makes requests: Wnei di ddod? Wnewch chi gau'r drws? The answers are Gwnaf / Na wnaf, often said Gwna / Na wna.

Achos and oherwydd (because) are usually followed by a bod clause: achos bod hi'n bwrw glaw, oherwydd bod y trên yn hwyr. Oherwydd is more formal. Before a noun, both can mean because of.

Mynd, dod, cael and gwneud have irregular short futures: af i (a i), ei di, aiff e (eith o in the North); dof i (do i), doi di, daw e; caf i (ca i), cei di, caiff e (ceith o); gwnaf i (gwna i), gwnei di, gwnaiff e (neith o).

Am (about, for) has personal forms amdana i, amdanat ti, amdano fe (amdano fo in the North), amdani hi, amdanon ni, amdanoch chi, amdanyn nhw: Dw i'n meddwl amdanat ti, Buon ni'n siarad amdani hi.

Ar fin + a verb-noun means about to: Dw i ar fin mynd (I'm about to go), Roedd y ffilm ar fin dechrau (The film was about to start). It takes the place of yn after bod.

Ar ôl (after) and cyn (before) can be followed directly by a verb-noun when the subject is the same: ar ôl bwyta, cyn mynd i'r gwely; Ffoniais i hi ar ôl cyrraedd.

Yn arfer + a verb-noun after bod describes habits. With the past of bod it means used to: Ro'n i'n arfer byw yn Aberystwyth. With the present it means usually: Dw i'n arfer codi'n gynnar.

Ar has personal forms arna i, arnat ti, arno fe (arno fo in the North), arni hi, arnon ni, arnoch chi, arnyn nhw. They are used for feelings and conditions: Mae ofn arna i (I'm afraid), Mae syched arno fe (He's thirsty), Mae annwyd arni hi (She has a cold).

At (to, towards) gives ata i, atat ti, ato fe (ato fo in the North), ati hi, aton ni, atoch chi, atyn nhw; wrth (to, by) gives wrtha i, wrthot ti, wrtho fe (wrtho fo in the North), wrthi hi, wrthon ni, wrthoch chi, wrthyn nhw: Ysgrifennais i ati hi, Dwedodd hi wrtho fe.

The conditional of bod is baswn i, baset ti, basai fo, basen ni, basech chi, basen nhw (especially North) or byddwn i (bydden i), byddet ti, byddai fe, bydden ni, byddech chi, bydden nhw (especially South and standard): Baswn i'n hoffi mynd. The North also shortens it to swn i.

After verbs of saying, thinking and knowing, bod replaces a present form of bod (mae) or a past form (roedd) to mean that: Dw i'n meddwl bod Siân yn dod, Dwedodd e fod y trên yn hwyr. There is no separate word for that.

Byddai'n well (basai'n well in the North) + gen i or gyda fi means I would rather or I would prefer: Byddai'n well gen i aros, Basai'n well gen i de, Byddai'n well 'da fi fynd (South).

Cant (hundred) becomes can before a noun (can punt) and mutates after numbers: dau gant, tri chant, pum cant. Mil (thousand) is feminine: dwy fil, tair mil. Hanner cant means fifty.

Cyntaf (first) comes after the noun: y tro cyntaf. Ail (second) and the other ordinals come before it: yr ail ddyn, y trydydd dyn. Trydydd and pedwerydd have feminine forms, trydedd and pedwaredd: y drydedd ferch.

Dim ond (only) comes before the word it limits: dim ond un, Dim ond coffi, diolch. When it limits the subject, the subject moves to the front with sy: Dim ond Siân sy'n gyrru. With bod, speech also puts ond before yn: Dw i ond yn gofyn.

Dod â means bring and mynd â means take (somewhere); â causes aspirate mutation and becomes ag before a vowel: Dere â'r llyfr (Tyrd â'r llyfr in the North), Es i â'r plant i'r ysgol, Dewch â phlât.

Dylwn i + a soft-mutated verb-noun means I should: Dylwn i fynd, Dylech chi ddarllen hwn. The forms are dylwn i, dylet ti, dylai fe, dylen ni, dylech chi, dylen nhw, and the negative is Ddylwn i ddim.

Erioed means ever or never with past and perfect forms (Dw i erioed wedi bod yn Sbaen), while byth means never with present, future and habitual forms (Dw i byth yn yfed coffi, Fydda i byth yn anghofio).

Ers means for or since when something is still true: Dw i'n dysgu Cymraeg ers dwy flynedd (I've been learning Welsh for two years), Mae hi'n byw yma ers 2020. Welsh keeps the present tense here. For a finished period, use am: am ddwy awr.

Gallu and medru have short present forms: galla i, gelli di, gall e/o; medra i, medri di, medr o (North). Questions and negatives mutate: Allwch chi ddod? Alla i ddim, Fedra i ddim (North).

Gallwn i (I could) is the conditional of gallu, often softened in speech and followed by soft mutation: Allwn i gael paned? Gallet ti helpu, Gallen nhw ddod. The North also uses medrwn i.

Gorfod (have to) works with bod in any tense: Dw i'n gorfod gweithio, Ro'n i'n gorfod aros. The rhaid pattern can also change tense: Roedd rhaid i fi fynd (I had to go), Bydd rhaid i ni aros (We'll have to wait).

Some very common adjectives have irregular comparatives: da gwell (better), drwg gwaeth (worse), mawr mwy (bigger), bach llai (smaller), hen hŷn (older), agos nes (nearer). After yn they soften as usual: Mae hwn yn well, Mae'r tywydd yn waeth heddiw.

A few adjectives come before the noun and cause soft mutation: hen ddyn (old man), hoff lyfr (favourite book), prif weinidog (first minister). Unig means only before a noun and lonely after it: unig blentyn, plentyn unig.

The words for myself, yourself and so on combine a possessive with hunan (South) or hun (North): fy hunan/fy hun, dy hunan, ei hunan, ein hunain (ein hun in the North), eich hunain, eu hunain. Ar ei ben ei hun and ar ei phen ei hun mean alone.

Bod + i fod i (often just fod i in speech) + a soft-mutated verb-noun means be supposed to: Dw i fod i weithio heddiw (I'm supposed to work today), Roedd hi i fod i ddod (She was supposed to come).

I is used for going to places and for giving or buying things for people, but at is used for movement or sending towards a person: Es i i Gaerdydd, Prynais i anrheg i Siân, Anfonais i lythyr at Siân, Dere ata i (Tyrd ata i in the North).

Mae is used in statements and after ble, sut, pryd and pam (Ble mae'r banc?), but ydy (yw) is used in yes-no questions, in negatives (dydy), after os, after a fronted predicate and when identifying with a definite noun: Ydy hi'n oer? Meddyg ydy hi, Siân ydy'r athrawes.

Mae'n well i + person + a soft-mutated verb-noun means someone had better do something: Mae'n well i fi fynd (I'd better go), Byddai'n well i ti ofyn (You'd better ask).

An affirmative inflected verb can be introduced by mi in the North or fe in the South, both causing soft mutation: Mi welais i, Fe welais i, Fe fydda i yno. Neither word is translated.

Mor (so, as) comes before an adjective and softens it, except ll and rh: mor fawr, mor dda, mor llawn. Add â (ag before a vowel) for as ... as: mor dal â'i thad. On its own it makes an exclamation: Mae hi mor oer!

Longer adjectives don't add -ach. Instead, put mwy (more) in front: mwy diddorol (more interesting), mwy cyfforddus (more comfortable). After yn it softens to fwy: Mae'r llyfr yn fwy diddorol na'r ffilm.

Mynd yn and dod yn + a soft-mutated adjective or noun mean become or get: Mae hi'n mynd yn dywyll (It's getting dark), Aeth e'n sâl (He got ill), Daeth hi'n athrawes (She became a teacher).

Newydd replaces yn or wedi to mean have just, followed by soft mutation: Dw i newydd fwyta (I've just eaten), Mae'r trên newydd adael (The train has just left).

Os (if) introduces real conditions and causes no mutation. For the future, use bydd: Os bydd hi'n braf, awn ni i'r traeth. For the present, use ydy or yw rather than mae: Os ydy hi'n oer, arhosa i gartref.

Pan (when) introduces a time clause and softens a following verb: pan ddaeth hi, pan welais i hi, pan fydd hi'n braf. With the past of bod that sets a scene: pan o'n i'n blentyn (when I was a child).

Pryd asks when in a question, while pan introduces a statement clause: Pryd wyt ti'n dod? (When are you coming?) but Ffonia fi pan fyddi di'n barod (Phone me when you're ready).

Rhywun (someone), rhywbeth (something), rhywle (somewhere) and rhai (some) are positive; unrhyw (any) is used in questions, conditions and negatives; neb (nobody), dim byd (nothing) and unman (nowhere) go with negatives: Does neb yma, Welais i ddim byd.

The imperfect of bod + wedi gives the pluperfect (had done): Ro'n i wedi bwyta yn barod (I had already eaten), Roedd hi wedi gadael cyn hanner nos (She had left before midnight).

Formal speech and standard writing often use fuller present forms of bod: rydw i, rwyt ti, mae e, rydyn ni, rydych chi, maen nhw, with negatives such as dydw i ddim and questions such as Ydych chi...?

Sy (sydd in writing and careful speech) is a special present form of bod that means who is, which is or that is: y dyn sy'n byw drws nesa, y llyfrau sydd ar y bwrdd. Its negative in speech is sy ddim: y plant sy ddim yma.

Yr un means the same before a noun (yr un peth, yr un fath) and each after a price or amount (punt yr un). Feminine singular nouns soften after it, except ll and rh: yr un ferch.

 (with, as), gyda (with), tua (about) and na (than) cause aspirate mutation: siarad â phlant, gyda thad Siân, tua chant o bobl, yn dalach na thi. Everyday speech often leaves it out after gyda.

Nouns for people are formed with -wr (man or person), -wraig (woman), -ydd (person who does: ysgrifennydd, cyfieithydd) and -es (female: athrawes, Cymraes): gweithiwr, gweithwraig.

A noun used to address someone takes soft mutation: Bore da, blant!, Dewch yma, fechgyn!, Diolch, bawb.

To emphasise a word, put it first. A fronted subject is followed by sy (present of bod) or a soft-mutated verb: Siân sy'n iawn, Siân welodd y ffilm. A fronted object or phrase is followed by the rest of the sentence: Coffi dw i eisiau, nid te.

Future forms of bod also describe regular habits: Bydda i'n mynd i nofio bob bore Sadwrn (I go swimming every Saturday morning), Fydd e byth yn hwyr (He's never late).

A negative relative uses na (nad before a vowel) with mixed mutation in careful Welsh: y bobl na ddaeth (the people who didn't come), y llyfr nad ydw i wedi ei ddarllen. Everyday speech often says sy ddim or wnaeth ddim: y plant sy ddim yma.

When the noun is the subject or direct object of a short (inflected) verb, the relative word is a, which softens the verb: y dyn a welais i (the man I saw), y ferch a ddaeth (the girl who came). Speech usually drops a but keeps the mutation: y llyfr brynais i.

Lle (where) links a place to a clause that describes it: y pentref lle ces i fy magu (the village where I was brought up), y caffi lle wnaethon ni gwrdd (the café where we met).

A relative clause with bod uses (a) oedd for the past and (a) fydd for the future: y dyn oedd yn byw yma (the man who lived here), y bobl fydd yn dod yfory (the people who will come tomorrow).

When the noun is not the subject or object, the relative word is y (yr before a vowel), and a personal preposition or possessive points back to it: y tŷ y mae hi'n byw ynddo, y ferch roeddwn i'n siarad amdani, y dyn y mae ei gar yn goch (the man whose car is red).

Report statements with bod or y clauses and change the pronouns and tense as in English: Dw i'n brysur becomes Dwedodd hi ei bod hi'n brysur, and Bydda i yno becomes Dwedodd e y byddai fe yno.

After a vowel, possessives shorten: i'm (to my), o'i (from his or her), a'n (and our); i + ei or eu becomes i'w: Dw i'n mynd i'w weld e. 'I keeps the mutations of ei (a'i gar e, a'i char hi), but 'm only adds h before a vowel (a'm henw), and speech usually keeps full fy: i fy nhad i.

Some nouns have a collective or plural base and add -yn (masculine) or -en (feminine) for one item: coed coeden, dail deilen, sêr seren, moch mochyn, pys pysen, plant plentyn.

Traditional Welsh counts in twenties: un ar ddeg (11), deuddeg (12), pymtheg (15), deunaw (18), ugain (20), un ar hugain (21), deugain (40), trigain (60). You still hear it in clock times, ages and dates.

Reported yes-no questions use a (whether), which causes soft mutation, or os in everyday speech: Gofynnodd hi a oeddwn i'n barod, Dw i ddim yn gwybod os ydy e'n dod.

With a different subject use ar ôl i or cyn i + subject + a soft-mutated verb-noun; the tense comes from the main clause: ar ôl i fi gyrraedd, cyn iddi hi fynd, cyn i'r trên adael.

The conditional of bod + wedi means would have: Baswn i wedi dod (Byddwn i wedi dod), Basai hi wedi hoffi hynny.

Blynedd (years), blwydd (years old) and diwrnod (days) take nasal mutation after pum, saith, wyth, naw, deng, deuddeng, pymtheng, deunaw, ugain and can: pum mlynedd, deng mlwydd oed, naw niwrnod. After dwy they soften: dwy flynedd.

Died is expressed with bu, an old past form of bod, + farw: Bu farw ei dad yn 2010. Speech also uses buodd e farw.

The preterite of bod (bues i, buest ti, buodd e/hi, buon ni, buoch chi, buon nhw) reports a completed period or visit: Bues i yn Sbaen y llynedd, Buodd hi'n sâl am wythnos. The North often says Mi fues i.

The future of bod + wedi gives a future perfect: Bydda i wedi gorffen erbyn pump (I'll have finished by five), Fyddan nhw ddim wedi cyrraedd (They won't have arrived).

The everyday passive uses cael (get) + a possessive that matches the person or thing affected + a verb-noun: Cafodd y car ei ddwyn (The car was stolen), Mae'r tŷ yn cael ei beintio (The house is being painted).

Bod + yn dal i + a soft-mutated verb-noun means still doing: Dw i'n dal i fyw yma, Mae hi'n dal i fwrw glaw.

Some body parts have old pair forms built on dau or dwy: dwylo (hands), deulin (knees), dwyfraich (arms); dwylo is the ordinary plural of llaw.

Each other is ei gilydd for they, ein gilydd for we and eich gilydd for you: Maen nhw'n caru ei gilydd, Dyn ni'n gweld ein gilydd bob wythnos.

Er bod (although) takes a bod clause and er gwaethaf (despite) takes a noun: Er bod hi'n bwrw glaw, aethon ni allan; er gwaetha'r tywydd. Careful Welsh uses possessive forms with pronouns: er ei bod hi.

Er mwyn + verb-noun means in order to, and er mwyn i + subject + a soft-mutated verb-noun means so that: Dw i'n dysgu Cymraeg er mwyn siarad â'r plant, er mwyn i bawb glywed.

In that-clauses with a pronoun subject, bod takes possessive forms: fy mod i, dy fod di, ei fod e (o), ei bod hi, ein bod ni, eich bod chi, eu bod nhw: Mae hi'n dweud ei bod hi'n brysur. Everyday speech also says bod fi, bod ti.

Heb (without) + a soft-mutated verb-noun can replace ddim wedi: Dw i heb fwyta means Dw i ddim wedi bwyta (I haven't eaten). It also means without doing: heb ddweud gair.

I + subject + a soft-mutated verb-noun makes a clause with its own subject: Mae'n bwysig i ti ddod (It's important for you to come), Mae'n amser i ni fynd, Gofynnodd hi i fi aros.

A that-clause that starts with an emphasised (fronted) part uses mai, or taw in the South: Dw i'n credu mai Siân sy'n iawn, Mae e'n dweud taw fe wnaeth e. The negative is nad: Dw i'n siŵr nad fe oedd e.

Before a definite object (the, a name, a pronoun) a negative short verb such as welais i uses ddim o, usually shortened to mo: Welais i mo'r ffilm, Chlywais i mohono fe. Mo has personal forms such as mohona i and mohoni hi.

Nes (until) takes i + subject + verb-noun or a bod clause, and tan (until) takes a time or noun and, in speech, also i + subject: Arhosa nes i fi ddod yn ôl, Arhoson ni tan hanner nos, tan i fi ddod.

Compound prepositions such as o flaen, ar ôl, ar bwys (South) and wrth ymyl use a possessive for a pronoun object: o flaen y tŷ but o fy mlaen i, ar ei ôl e (after him), wrth fy ymyl i.

O (of, from) has personal forms ohona i, ohonot ti, ohono fe (ohono fo in the North), ohoni hi, ohonon ni, ohonoch chi, ohonyn nhw, common after quantity words: llawer ohonyn nhw, un ohonon ni, rhai ohonoch chi.

Rhaid bod (or mae'n rhaid bod) + clause expresses a confident conclusion: Rhaid bod e wedi anghofio (He must have forgotten), Mae'n rhaid ei bod hi'n brysur (She must be busy).

Unreal conditions use colloquial taswn i or standard pe bawn i: Taswn i'n gyfoethog, baswn i'n teithio; Pe bai hi yma, byddai hi'n helpu; with wedi for the past: Taswn i wedi gwybod.

Tybed (I wonder) introduces an indirect question: Tybed a ydy hi adref, Tybed pwy sy yno, Tybed pam.

Wrth + a soft-mutated verb-noun means while or as: Gwelais i hi wrth gerdded adref, Syrthiodd e wrth redeg. With a different subject, use wrth i + subject + verb-noun.

Bod + wrthi'n + verb-noun means be busy doing something: Dw i wrthi'n coginio, Roedd hi wrthi'n peintio'r tŷ.

For future and conditional that-clauses, "that" is y (yr before a vowel), with na or nad for negatives: Dw i'n siŵr y bydd hi'n braf, Dw i'n gobeithio y daw e, Mae'n debyg na fydd e yno. Speech often drops y.

Welsh makes abstract nouns (words for ideas and qualities) by adding endings: -rwydd (hapus → hapusrwydd, happiness), -der (dwfn → dyfnder, depth), -wch (prydferth → prydferthwch, beauty) and -aeth (cerdd → cerddoriaeth, music). Learn each word's ending, because it cannot always be guessed.

When two words join into one close compound, the second part usually takes soft mutation: prif + dinas → prifddinas (capital city), llyfr + cell → llyfrgell (library), cyd + gweithio → cydweithio (work together), hen + taid → hen-daid (great-grandfather).

Formal Welsh and the news use the impersonal past ending -wyd, which names no doer: Adeiladwyd y castell yn y drydedd ganrif ar ddeg, Agorwyd yr ysgol yn 1950, Ganwyd hi yng Nghaerdydd.

Everyday spoken Welsh (Dw i'n, ges i, bydda i) differs from standard written Welsh (Rydw i'n, cefais i, byddaf i) and from literary Welsh (yr wyf, cefais, byddaf). None is wrong; each fits a different setting, so recognise all three and match the one around you.

Not every word mutates. Braf (fine) never changes; recent loanwords with g, such as gêm and garej, keep their g (y gêm); ll and rh stay after y with feminine nouns and after predicative yn and mor (y llaw, mae'n llawn); and in speech question words like beth, ble and pam stay as they are (i ble?).

A (and, with) followed by a noun or pronoun and yn, wedi or a place phrase describes what was going on around the main action: Cerddodd hi adref a'r glaw yn disgyn (She walked home with the rain falling), Daeth e i mewn a'i got amdano (He came in with his coat on).

Three prefixes make opposites. An- means not and usually brings nasal mutation (teg → annheg, unfair; cyfforddus → anghyfforddus, uncomfortable). Di- means without and brings soft mutation (gwaith → di-waith, unemployed). Dad- reverses an action and also softens (gwneud → dadwneud, undo).

Many Northern speakers use chdi for ti in some places: after prepositions (efo chdi, i chdi), as the object of a short verb (Welais i chdi) and on its own (A chdi?). Ti stays straight after a verb as its subject: Wyt ti'n dod?

Three common adjectives have their own one-word "as ... as" forms: cystal (as good), cymaint (as much, as big, as many) and cynddrwg (as bad). They are followed by â (ag before a vowel). Cyn gynted â phosib means as soon as possible.

In the North, ddaru makes a simple past for any verb: ddaru + the person + a soft-mutated verb-noun. Ddaru mi weld y ffilm means I saw the film, and Ddaru hi ddim dod means She didn't come. Ddaru itself never changes.

To say should have or could have, put fod wedi + a verb-noun after dylwn i (should) or gallwn i (could): Dylwn i fod wedi ffonio (I should have phoned), Gallen ni fod wedi ennill (We could have won).

Fel bod + a bod clause and fel y + a future or conditional verb mean so that: Siaradais i'n araf fel bod pawb yn deall, fel y gallai pawb glywed.

Welsh has a second set of pronouns that link a person to someone already mentioned: finnau (me too, as for me), tithau, yntau, hithau, ninnau, chithau and hwythau. Finnau hefyd means Me too, and A thithau? means And you?

Written and formal Welsh joins ideas with linking words: fodd bynnag (however), serch hynny (nevertheless), felly (therefore; also everyday "so"), sef (namely, that is) and hynny yw (that is to say). They usually start a sentence or follow its first part, set off by commas.

Gan followed by a soft-mutated verb-noun adds an action that happens alongside the main one, like English -ing: Aeth hi allan gan wenu (She went out smiling). It is mostly written or formal, and fixed phrases such as gan gynnwys (including) are very common.

Gan fod (since, as) gives a reason that is already known: Gan fod hi'n bwrw glaw, arhoson ni gartref.

A small group of adjectives has a feminine form, used after a feminine singular noun: gwyn → gwen (y ffrog wen, the white dress), melyn → melen, byr → ber, trwm → trom, crwn → cron. The feminine form also takes the usual soft mutation. Many speakers use the ordinary form in speech; the feminine forms are standard in writing and in set phrases.

To deny a word that has been moved to the front for emphasis, put nid before it: Nid fi wnaeth e (It wasn't me who did it). Nid ... ond means not ... but: Nid te dw i eisiau, ond coffi. Everyday speech often says dim instead of nid: Dim fi wnaeth!

To add "isn't it?" or "didn't you?", Welsh echoes the verb after on'd: Mae hi'n braf, on'd yw hi? Southern speech often says nag yw hi? and Northern speech tydi?. The one-word tags ontefe (South) and yndê (North) fit many sentences without changing.

Oni bai (unless, if it were not for) takes am + noun or a bod clause: oni bai am y glaw; Oni bai bod y bws yn hwyr, baswn i yno.

Po followed by a superlative with soft mutation makes "the more ..., the more ..." sentences. Welsh uses the -est form (gorau, cyntaf, mwyaf), not the -er form: Gorau po gyntaf means The sooner the better.

Put bynnag after a question word to make an "-ever" word: pwy bynnag (whoever), beth bynnag (whatever), ble bynnag (wherever), pryd bynnag (whenever) and sut bynnag (however). On its own, beth bynnag also means anyway.

Rhag ofn (in case) takes a bod clause or i + subject + verb-noun: Cymera ymbarél rhag ofn iddi fwrw glaw, rhag ofn bod y siop ar gau.

Southern speech shortens present negatives of bod: Sa i'n gwybod (I don't know), So fe'n dod (He isn't coming), Smo ti'n dod? (Aren't you coming?), and Sdim ots (It doesn't matter). No ddim is added after sa i or so. In writing, use the full forms such as Dw i ddim.

Northern speech squeezes does gen i ddim into sgen i ddim (I haven't got) and oes gen ti ...? into sgen ti ...? (Have you got ...?): Sgen i ddim amser, Sgen ti gar? It is casual speech; writing keeps the full forms.

Wedi + a possessive + verb-noun describes something that has had an action done to it, much like an English past participle: bara wedi'i dostio (toasted bread), ffenestr wedi'i thorri (a broken window), llyfrau wedi'u hysgrifennu yn Gymraeg (books written in Welsh).

Welsh says "the two" for both: y ddau with masculine or mixed pairs and y ddwy with feminine pairs, as in y ddau ohonon ni and y ddwy chwaer. After a plural pronoun, ill dau (ill dwy) means both of them: Daethon nhw ill dau.

Y naill ... y llall means one ... the other, for two people or things: Mae'r naill yn dal a'r llall yn fyr (One is tall and the other is short). Y naill neu'r llall means either one, y naill na'r llall means neither, and naill ai ... neu means either ... or.

Yr hyn means what or that which when it is not a question: Dyna'r hyn dw i eisiau (That's what I want), Yr hyn sy'n bwysig ydy dy iechyd (What matters is your health). Relaxed speech often uses beth or be instead.

Two endings turn verbs into adjectives: -adwy means "can be done", like English -able (bwytadwy, edible; darllenadwy, readable; ailgylchadwy, recyclable), and -edig describes something that has been done (cyhoeddedig, published; ysgrifenedig, written). Everyday speech often uses wedi'i instead: wedi'i ysgrifennu.

In literary Welsh, when a phrase such as a time, place or manner comes before the verb, the particle y (yr before a vowel) links it to the verb: Yn y dechreuad yr oedd y Gair (In the beginning was the Word), Yn 1283 y dechreuwyd adeiladu'r castell (Work on the castle began in 1283). Speech usually drops y.

Formal Welsh has impersonal verb forms that name no doer: -ir for the present or future (Siaredir Cymraeg yma, Welsh is spoken here; Cynhelir y cyfarfod nos Lun, The meeting will be held on Monday night) and -id for past habits (Arferid cynnal ffair yma, A fair used to be held here). Speech uses the cael passive instead.

In literary and formal Welsh, an object pronoun can be tucked in after a particle before the verb: 'm (me), 'th (you), 'i (him, her), 'n (us), 'ch (you), 'u (them). Fe'i gwelais means I saw him or her, and news reports say Fe'i penodwyd (He or she was appointed). Speech puts an ordinary pronoun after the verb instead: Gwelais i hi (I saw her).

Literary and formal Welsh forms "as ... as" with cyn + a soft-mutated adjective + the ending -ed, then â: cyn wynned â'r eira (as white as snow), cyn gyflymed â'r gwynt (as fast as the wind). Speech uses mor ... â instead: mor wyn â'r eira.

Literary Welsh has short forms for "used to" and "would": gwelwn, gwelit, gwelai, gwelem, gwelech, gwelent. Speech keeps this set for a few verbs (hoffwn i, gallwn i, dylwn i) but otherwise says baswn i'n gweld or byddwn i'n gweld (would see) and ro'n i'n arfer gweld (used to see).

Literary Welsh puts ni before a verb to make it negative, with no ddim after it. Ni causes mixed mutation (Ni chlywodd, Ni welais) and becomes nid before a vowel (Nid oes amser). Speech says Welais i neb, Chlywodd hi ddim, Does dim amser.

Literary Welsh has full past endings, usually with no pronoun after them: gwelais (I saw), gwelaist, gwelodd, gwelsom, gwelsoch, gwelsant. Irregular verbs have forms such as aethant (they went), daethant (they came) and cawsant (they had). This is for recognition; speech says gwelais i or gwelon nhw.

Literary Welsh has a short pluperfect for "had done": gwelswn (or gwelaswn), gwelsit, gwelsai, gwelsem, gwelsech, gwelsent. Speech uses the past of bod + wedi instead: Ro'n i wedi gweld (I had seen).

In literary Welsh, short forms such as gwelaf (I see, I will see), gweli, gwêl, gwelwn, gwelwch and gwelant cover both present and future. Speech uses a similar set, such as gwela i, gweli di and gwelwn ni, mainly for the future, and uses bod + yn for the present.

In literary and formal Welsh, a yes-no question begins with the particle a, which softens the verb: A welaist ti ef? (Did you see him?), A fydd y swyddfa ar agor? (Will the office be open?). Before a vowel nothing changes: A oes heddwch? (Is there peace?). Speech drops a but keeps the mutation: Welaist ti'r ffilm?

Literary Welsh uses fuller forms of bod with the particle y or yr in front: yr wyf (I am), yr wyt, y mae, yr ydym, yr ydych, y maent, and in the past yr oeddwn, yr oedd, yr oeddynt. The spoken forms dw i, rwyt ti, mae, dyn ni and roedd grew out of these.

Most Welsh adjectives have no plural, but a few do: bychain (from bach), ieuainc (ifanc), duon (du), cochion (coch), trymion (trwm). They appear mainly in writing, place names such as y Mynyddoedd Duon and set phrases. The one plural adjective everyone uses daily is eraill (other): pobl eraill.

In literary Welsh, prepositions take full person endings and often no pronoun: arnaf, arnat, arno, arni, arnom, arnoch, arnynt (on me, on you ...); gennyf, gennyt, ganddo, ganddi, gennym, gennych, ganddynt (with me ...); ohonof, ohonynt (of me, of them). Speech says arna i, gen i, ganddo fe, ohonyn nhw.

The subjunctive is a verb form for wishes and possibilities. In modern Welsh it lives on mainly in set phrases: cyn bo hir (before long), Da boch chi (goodbye), boed hynny fel y bo (be that as it may), doed a ddelo (come what may) and Bydded goleuni (Let there be light).

Older and literary texts join ideas with connectors such as canys (for, because), oblegid (because, because of), eithr (but, except) and megis (such as, like). Speech uses achos or oherwydd, ond and fel instead. Some survive in formal modern Welsh: ac eithrio (except) and megis are common in official writing.

Literary Welsh has its own pronoun forms: ef (he, him) for spoken e or o, hwy or hwynt (they, them) for nhw, and chwi for chi. It also has doubled emphatic forms, myfi, tydi, efe, hyhi, nyni, chwychwi and hwynt-hwy, as in Myfi yw'r bugail da (I am the good shepherd).

Literary Welsh asks "isn't it?" and "didn't you?" questions with oni before a consonant and onid before a vowel: Onid yw hi'n brydferth? (Isn't it beautiful?), Oni chlywaist? (Didn't you hear?). Oni causes mixed mutation, and the speaker expects the answer yes.